


Fast Reflexes

by harryjamespooter



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-27
Updated: 2016-08-27
Packaged: 2018-08-11 09:26:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7885636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/harryjamespooter/pseuds/harryjamespooter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry's clumsiness gets the better of him at the worst of times. Or, possibly, what may turn out to be the best of times. </p>
<p>Coffee Shop AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fast Reflexes

Harry stood at the counter of the coffee shop, tapping his fingers absentmindedly against the table. The waft of coffee was almost overpowering, and he was reminded why he didn’t like going to coffee shops much.

The barista handed over a mocha and Harry smiled gratefully, thanking him as he picked up his books and bag at the same time. He just needed to find an empty table… how difficult would it be?

Five minutes later, he realised that coffee shops were _busy_. He wondered if he should just leave, when he stepped onto the strap of his bag and fell into a table, dropping his books and mocha out of his hands.

“Oh shit,” He muttered as he straightened up, expecting his drink to be slowly leaking across the floor.

But as Harry pushed his glasses up his nose, he noticed instead that someone was standing up with him, the mocha in their hand. It was a girl, perhaps a year or two younger than he was, with bright ginger hair and freckles across her nose. She grinned, “I believe this is yours?”

Harry took it gratefully, shaking his head, “Wow… thanks- you’ve got fast reflexes.”

“My brothers have a habit of throwing things,” She shrugged, “I’m used to catching them just before they hit me in the face.”

Harry frowned at her for a second, “Your brothers… wait- are you a Weasley?”

“Guilty,” The girl laughed, “With hair _that_ wild, you must be Harry Potter. I’ve heard about it from Ron.”

Harry ran his hand through his hair to attempt to smooth it down, “So- you’re the famous Ginny. How is it possible that I’ve been friends with Ron for two years since we started university, and I’ve never met you?”

“You’ll need more than two years to meet the lot of us- I doubt you’ve met Charlie? He’s been away for a few years now.” Ginny tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, gesturing at the seat opposite, “You can sit with me if you like. I’m only reading- thank god summer has started so I don’t have to worry about studying anymore.”

Harry nodded, sitting opposite her and placing his books on the table between them, “I was doing some research into hockey, actually. I play it quite a lot and I’m… kind of interested in the history.” He blushed slightly, realising that his obsession with hockey sounded more weird than interesting.

Ginny leant forwards, her ponytail swinging over her shoulders, “You play hockey? Are you kidding? I play too!”

Harry opened his mouth to respond, but his phone started vibrating in his pocket. Apologising quickly, he pulled it out and saw the caller ID: Sirius.

“Hello?” He asked, pressing the green button.

“Harry- are you home for dinner tonight? Because I’ve got this new dish that I’m sure you’ll absolutely love, although Remus is convinced that once you know I’m cooking you’ll be off to Ron’s or something.”

Harry laughed, “I’ll be home in a few hours- I’m just at a coffee shop down the road-”

“Whoa, whoa- did you say a _coffee shop_?” Sirius interrupted, “Could you have picked a more cliché way to pick up girls?”

Harry’s face reddened, “I came here to do some reading. Anything wrong with that?”

“Are you with a girl?” Sirius questioned.

“No,” Harry replied too quickly, causing his godfather to snort. In the background he heard a crash followed by Remus’ voice.

“Sirius- you had the phone on loudspeaker, you know. I did hear what Harry said. No need to knock me into the sink in excitement.”

Sirius cleared his throat, “Uh… right. Tell us all the juicy details when you get home, Harry. I expect it all!”

Remus made a gagging noise and shouted, “I’d rather if you only told us details such as her name and what she’s studying. Nothing… juicy.”

Harry rolled his eyes, “I’ll see you two later.”

He slid his phone onto the table and shook his head, “Sorry. My godfather likes to call me regularly. He doesn’t like to admit it, but he missed me so much when I was at university.”

Ginny smirked, “Good to see he cares. He sounded funny.”

“Oh,” Harry grumbled, “He likes to think he is. I, unfortunately, have grown up with his sense of humour. I think I might be immune to it. Remus is just the same way.”

“Remus?” Ginny asked, leaning forwards with interest.

“My other godfather,” Harry clarified, “The more level-headed one, in comparison to Sirius. He, thankfully, does not crack bad jokes. Anyway, you said you played hockey. What position?”

“Usually center,” She muttered, “But the team’s always changing up with people not able to make games, so I have to change around quite a lot. What about you?”

Harry couldn’t help but feel a great sense of respect for her, being able to flit between different positions. He’d focused so much on training for one position since he’d started playing hockey that he doubted it would be easy to change at this point. He nodded, “Nice. I’m on defense. I’m clearly nowhere near as skilled as you, because I’ve only ever played on defense.”

“And I know you’re really good on defense.” Ginny quipped with a smirk, “I’ve heard the stories from Ron. Your defending is what saves the match every time. You’re quite the hockey hero.”

Harry was quite startled by the compliment, and couldn’t help it as his cheeks flushed a glorious red. He stammered, “I… Uh… Thanks. I didn’t… Uh…”

Ginny seemed to be quite enjoying his inability to speak, and leant backwards with a smile, waiting for him to say something. Her phone suddenly buzzed in her pocket, and she pulled it out to read it, still smiling at Harry’s awkward manner.

“Right,” She sighed and picked her book up, “I’m sorry, Harry, but my friend Luna is outside to pick me up. I’m helping her with the publication of some articles for a local magazine, and I really can’t keep her waiting.”

She stood up, and so did Harry. She looked a bit startled, but the smile on her lips betrayed her amusement.

“Wait,” Harry murmured, “It was… This was… nice.”

Ginny nodded, leaning her head to one side, “It was, Harry. Thanks for choosing my table to bump into.”

Harry’s green eyes sparkled, and he suddenly blurted out, “When’s your next hockey game?”

“On Saturday,” Ginny beamed, “I’ll have Ron give me your number, and I’ll text you the details if you want to come and watch.”

Harry nodded quickly, “I would really like that, Ginny. A lot.” He opened his mouth to say more, but stopped himself before he could say anything else embarrassing and simply smiled.

“Okay! See you on Saturday!” Ginny spun around and marched out of the coffee shop, her ponytail swinging from side to side.

Before Harry could stop himself, he grabbed a hold of his books and his mocha and sprinted out of the door with a shout, “Ginny! Wait! Wait again!”

Ginny paused, turning around with a small smile playing at the corner of her lips. Harry caught up with her just outside the entrance of the coffee shop, appearing extremely grateful that she had stopped for him. He suddenly observed how her eyelashes glowed in the sunlight, framing her dark brown eyes and highlighting the tiny orange flecks in the irises. Realising he was getting distracted, he cleared his throat and awkwardly rearranged the books in his arms, “Do you want to… perhaps… do this again? After the game?”

Ginny raised an eyebrow delicately, “What? A coffee?”

“Yeah,” Harry nodded, trying his best to not appear overly keen- although, to be honest, he was wondering if he may have already done just that.

“That would depend on my mood,” Ginny told him, “If we lose, I don’t think I’d be up for it.”

“Well,” Harry leant against the glass window with a grin, “In that case, I hope you win.”

She tilted her head with a smile, pausing as if considering what he had said. After a moment, she laughed lightly and turned around to walk towards Luna’s car, shouting over her shoulder, “I’ll try my best!”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Imogen for helping me with this, your extensive knowledge of Hinny has benefitted me very much.


End file.
